Jim Weber: The Voice of the Toledo Mud Hens
This article was written by Mike O’Hare
This article was published in The National Pastime: Baseball on Lake Erie (2026)
To fans of the Toledo Mud Hens, Jim Weber was their very own Vin Scully, Red Barber, or Jack Buck. (Wikimedia Commons)
There is something genuinely nostalgic about listening to a ball game on the radio. Over the decades, fans have been fortunate to hear some of the greatest voices call the national pastime, including the likes of Hall of Fame broadcasters Vin Scully, Ernie Harwell, Red Barber, Mel Allen, and Jack Buck. Each mastered their own craft, making listeners feel like they were seated behind home plate with a bag of peanuts and cold beer in hand.
There is one Hall of Fame broadcaster that many may not have had the privilege of hearing narrate a ball game, not for any lack of achievement or accomplishment, but simply because of the regional nature of the broadcasting network and team. Nestled off the shores of Lake Erie between Detroit and Cleveland sits Toledo, Ohio, home of the Toledo Mud Hens, currently the AAA minor league club of the Detroit Tigers. Calling play-by-play for almost half a century, Jim Weber was the “Voice of the Toledo Mud Hens.”1 Jim was born and raised in South Toledo and started calling Mud Hens games on April 12, 1975. Sadly, Jim passed away on August 2, 2024, at the age of 78, having called more than 6,000 consecutive Mud Hens games over a span of 49 years.2
Jim’s broadcasting career didn’t follow a typical trajectory. After graduating from high school in Toledo, Jim took a job with Jeep and filled his spare time playing the drums in a local band.3 According to his eldest daughter, Christine Heflinger, his broadcasting career started when “he was going to observe a friend who was broadcasting high school football games, and when his friend unexpectedly couldn’t do it anymore, he left it to my father to do, and he took it on!”4 Despite living close to Ned Skeldon Stadium in Maumee, the Mud Hens’ home from 1965-2001, Weber said that he attended games only “here and there.”5 While the Mud Hens had not had a radio deal since 1970, in 1975 Jim decided to submit a proposal to general manager Charlie Senger.6 After an in-person meeting, he was successful in securing a partial schedule with a local radio station. Having never called a baseball game before, Weber approached the opportunity with certainty, saying, “I played the game, and I figured, how hard can it be?”7 On April 12, 1975, from Charleston, West Virginia, Weber called his first game for the Toledo Mud Hens, starting what would become a Hall of Fame career.
When Weber’s career commenced, the Mud Hens were in the last year of their affiliation with the Phillies. Subsequent teams followed throughout Jim’s career, including Cleveland, Minnesota, and today’s current affiliate, the Tigers. In 1987, Weber got a fulltime partner in the booth, Frank Gilhooley, who was a very popular television newscaster in Toledo.8 Later, he was joined by Matt Melzak, who today calls play-by-play for the Hens and the Toledo Walleye, an affiliate hockey team for the Detroit Red Wings. “He was amazing to work with because of the humor he brought every day to the ballpark,” Melzak recalled. “He was professional but also very folksy and relatable. Jim was always the same, regardless of whether he was in front or away from the mic. His on-air stories were priceless and entertaining, and often weaved into his broadcast. He was the same play-by-play guy if it was a 2-1 game or a 10-1 game, always reliable.”9 Even during long losing streaks, Weber persevered, “at one point we were, like, 15 or 20 in a row when we didn’t win anything. You find the good stuff and there’s always stories, I’m just trying to keep it interesting. Find the humor and have fun with it.”10
Jim’s responsibilities went well beyond the booth, including coordinating the travel schedule, usually done over the winter months. In an interview with Benjamin Hill of MiLB.com, Weber reflected on travel reminiscent of scenes from the movie Bull Durham: “I remember getting on buses in the old days, nobody had earplugs or headsets,” he continued. “You’d hear all this music blasting through the bus, Spanish music going, and there’d be two or three guys having a holy hour in the back, and somebody up here was a rocker. Some managers, they’d tell ‘em, ‘Alright, after 10 o’clock, I don’t want to hear none of that crap no more! For the rest of the night!’”11 Weber’s passion extended outside normal business hours. “In the early days, he did a lot of statistics and record keeping himself,” Chrstine says “I can recall many mornings he would sit at the kitchen table and work in preparation for the day.”12
Jim had the same attitude whether the Mud Hens were winning or losing. “You find the good stuff and there’s always stories, I’m just trying to keep it interesting. Find the humor and have fun with it.” (Wikimedia Commons)
Weber’s exceptional work ethic and experience belied his own humility and helpfulness. “He was a great tutor, allowing me to learn by doing play by play and develop my style as a broadcaster while also helping me get better at spots I could improve,” Melzak said. “He taught me to treat each game as its own entity and to call the game in front of you, because you never know what might happen. It really helped me develop as a broadcaster, not only in baseball but hockey as well.”13
Over the course of Jim’s career, he saw eighteen managers and over 1,000 players come and go through the Mud Hens organization.14 He formed a very special friendship with pitcher Jose Lima, who sadly died young at the age of 37.15 Weber said of Lima on road trips, “he’d call me up at two in the morning to go play pool or to visit some night spot and close it down.”16 According to Christine and her husband Dave, Weber “formed relationships with so many players and coaches, from Charlie Manuel to Kirby Puckett, whom he drove to the airport when he was called up for the first time.”17 Not just players and coaches, Christine recalls back in 1986, “after Bob Costas made fun of the Mud Hens on TV, they invited him to a game, and he went on the air with my father for two consecutive nights.”18 The Weber family would host barbecues at their home for the players, coaches, out-of-town broadcasters, and, if called upon, Jim’s daughters would babysit the children.19 When the season was canceled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Jim was asked about what he missed the most: “I miss calling the games, but the people are like family to me in Toledo and all over the league.”20
With Jim’s career spanning just shy of five incredible decades, there were moments that stood out the most. In an interview with David Laurila back in 2010, Weber was asked what those moments were. “Oh, probably those Governors’ Cup years. The one-game playoffs in 2006. The victory over Indianapolis, in their new ballpark, to win the Governors’ Cup in 2005. And I had never gotten a ring for winning the championship until 2005, all those years, so that was pretty big.”21 Weber’s humility emerged when asked about his first ballot International League Hall of Fame induction in 2014. “I never considered myself a candidate for this hall of fame.”22 He had no idea he would be on the ballot, and more importantly, he did not vote for himself.23 Jim is the first and only broadcaster to date to receive this prestigious honor, joining notable ballplayers like Cal Ripken Jr., Jackie Robinson, and Jim Rice.24 What may be even more amazing and most likely never accomplished again is his streak of broadcasting 6,395 consecutive games.25 To the Weber girls, the streak became a household cliche, “DON’T DISTURB THE STREAK,” which they would jokingly say to one another while planning their fall weddings.26
Christine and Dave Heflinger noted, “He loved every part of the job right up until the very last day. In fact, he had finished the August 1, 2024, broadcast just 90 minutes before he died. I don’t think he really wanted ever to quit.”27 Outside Matt Melzak’s working relationship with Jim, “Weber was a Mud Hen through and through, and we became great friends over our time together, and it is something that I will never forget.28 Mud Hens CEO Joe Napoli probably summed it up best, “he was a Hens’ family heirloom….irreplaceable.”29 Those fans fortunate enough to hear Jim call games will never forget his legacy that will live among the very best in the industry.
MIKE O’HARE has been a SABR member since 2023 and is currently part of the Banks-Bragan Chapter residing in the Dallas, Texas area. An Ohio native, Mike is a passionate Cleveland Guardians fan and always makes it a point to catch a few games every year when back visiting. Mike has completed the first level of the SABR Analytics courses and plans to continue his knowledge on advanced baseball statistics.
Notes
1. Benjamin Hill, “Weber Is Mud Hens’ Man Behind the Mic,” MiLB.com, August 5, 2024, https://www.milb.com/news/mud-hens-jim-weber-a-toledo-sports-broadcasting-icon-281804132. Accessed January 24, 2026.
2. “Mud Hens Mourn The Loss of Longtime Broadcaster Jim Weber,” MiLB.com, August 2, 2024, https://www.milb.com/news/mud-hens-moum-the-loss-of-longtime-broadcaster-jim-weber. Accessed January 24, 2026:
3. Hill.
4. Christine and Dave Heflinger, email questionnaire interview, January 27, 2026.
5. Hill.
6. Hill.
7. Hill.
8. David Laurila, “Minor Issues: Broadcasting the Minors, with Jim Weber,” baseballprospectus.com, September 12, 2010, https://www.baseball-prospectus.com/news/article/11971/minor-issues-broadcasting-the-minors-with-jim-weber/. Accessed February 5, 2026.
9. Matt Melzak, email questionnaire interview, February 2, 2026.
10. Hill.
11. Hill.
12. Heflinger interview.
13. Matt Melzak, email questionnaire interview, February 2, 2026.
14. International League Baseball Hall of Fame, “International League Hall of Fame Members,” https://www.milb.com/news/gcs-278209. Accessed February 9, 2026.
15. Hill.
16. Hill.
17. Heflinger interview.
18. Heflinger interview.
19. Heflinger interview.
20. “Longtime Mud Hens Play-By-PlayAnnouncer Jim Weber Dies at 78,” The Blade, August 2, 2024, https://www.toledoblade.com/sports/mud-hens/2024/08/02/. Accessed January 10, 2026. longtime-mud-hens-announcer-jim-weber-dies/stories/20240802131.
21. Laurila.
22. “Longtime Mud Hens.”
23. “Longtime Mud Hens.”
24. International League Baseball Hall of Fame, “International League Hall of Fame Members,” https://www.milb.com/news/gcs-278209. Accessed February 9, 2026.
25. David Briggs, “Briggs: There Is Crying in Baseball as Toledo Mourns Sudden Loss of Weber.” The Blade, August 3, 2024, https://www.toledoblade.com/sports/mud-hens/2024/08/02/briggs-crying-baseball-toledo-mourns-sudden-loss-jim-weber/stories/20240802157. Accessed February 14, 2026.
26. Heflinger interview.
27. Heflinger interview.
28. Melzak interview.
29. “Mud Hens Mourn.”